Lighthouses of Greece: Crete

The fifth largest island of the Mediterranean, Crete (Kríti) is
260 km (160 mi) long from east to west but only 13 km (8 mi) to 60 km
(37 mi) in width. Venice governed Crete from early in the 13th century
to late in the 17th century, when the island came under the rule of the
Ottoman Empire. During the 1800s, repeated rebellions and much political
maneuvering led to Crete's becoming an independent Greek republic in
1898. The Cretan Republic was unified with the Kingdom of Greece in 1913,
after the end of the Balkan Wars.

The historic lighthouses of
the island are often described as Venetian, but most of them were built by French engineers in the early 1860s, while the
island was under Ottoman rule.

The Greek word for a lighthouse, pharos or fáros (φάρος), is the
root for the words in many Western European languages. In Greek, nisis
is an island, akra is a cape or headland, kolpós
is a bay or gulf.

Note: Gavdos (Gávdhos)
is a small island 27 km (17 mi) south of Chóra Skafion on the south
coast of Crete. The island is the southernmost point of Greece and of Europe.
The permanent population is only about 50, but several thousand vacationers
may be present during the summer. Ferry
transportation is available from Sougia and from Chóra Skafion. Gavdos
is governed as part of Chania County.

* [Tripiti
(Gávdhos, Ákra Tripití) (2?)]

1990. Active; focal plane 37 m (121 ft); two white flashes every 16 s.
6 m (20 ft) square skeletal tower with gallery. Lighthouse painted
white. A photo shows the current light in the background behind a similar tower that has collapsed. Google's satellite
view of the cape
does not show the light. Ákra
Tripití is
the southernmost tip of the island, and thus has some fame as the southernmost
point of Europe. Accessible by a hiking trail. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS
CRE-007; Admiralty N4840; NGA 16208.

1880. Inactive since World War II. Approx. 6 m (20 ft) round masonry tower,
formerly with lantern and gallery and attached to a 1-story keeper's house.
Lighthouse formerly painted white. The lighthouse was largely destroyed
by an air raid during World War II. A photo is available, Savas has small photos of the ruined tower, and a larger photo is available (2/3 of the way down the page).

2003reconstruction of 1880 lighthouse. Inactive. Approx. 9 m (30 ft) round masonry tower with lantern and gallery, attached
to a 1-story replica of the keeper's house. Lighthouse painted white; lantern
dome painted dark green. A photo is at right, Georgios Papaioannou also has a photo, a 2007 photo by Panagiotis Laskaris shows visitors on the gallery, and Google has a satellite
view. This replica
was built during 2002-03 and is open to the public; the rebuilt keeper's
house is a museum. Located on the southwestern coast of
the island. Site open, museum and tower open in season.

Date unknown (station established about 1910). Active; focal plane 43 (141
ft); three white flashes every 24 s. 15 m (49 ft) square skeletal tower
with gallery, painted white. Next to the tower are the ruins of a stone
keeper's house and a small stone chapel. A photo
is available, also a photo
of the keeper's house ruins, Trabas has a distant view,
and Google has a satellite
view. According to Savas's text, the light was built after the Austrian
liner Imperatrice wrecked on nearby reefs in 1907 or 1908 (both
dates appear). The original lighthouse was a tall stone tower. Located
on an island just off the southwestern tip of Crete. Accessible only by
boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS CRE-006; Admiralty N4778; NGA 16224.

Date unknown (station established 1874). Active; focal plane 108 m (354
ft); red flash every 10 s. 3 m (10 ft) metal beacon on a masonry base. Beacon
painted white with a red horizontal band. Trabas has a distant view of the
cape, but it doesn't show the light. Google's satellite
view proves that the masonry tower shown in Savas's photo
does not survive, but it appears that the 1-story square masonry keeper's
house is standing. Gramvoúsa is a pair of islands off the northwestern
tip of Crete. Located at the northwestern tip of Agria Gramvoúsa, the northern island of the pair. Accessible
only by boat. Site status unknown. Admiralty N4780; NGA 16008.

1864 (station established by Venice in the 15th century). Active; focal
plane 26 m (85 ft); red flash every 2.5 s. 26 m (85 ft) round cylindrical
stone tower with lantern and gallery, mounted on a much older stone base.
The light is
now displayed from the top of the lantern. The entire lighthouse is unpainted
white stone; lantern painted white. A 2009 photo
is at the top of this page, Traba has a closeup by Arno Siering, Stavros Markopoulos has a 2008 photo,
Wikimedia has photos, Huelse has a historic postcard
view, and Google has a street view and a satellite
view. The port of Chania was built by Venice on the site of the ancient
town of Kydonia, and the stone base of this lighthouse is part of the
15th century Venetian lighthouse. In recent years Chania has become
a popular cruise ship port, making this one of the best-known and most-often-photographed
Greek lighthouses. Savas's photos show
that it was in poor condition by the late 1990s. In 2006 a thorough restoration was carried
out; Martin Belam's photo taken
on 2 May 2006 shows the lighthouse with its lantern removed and the tower
wrapped in scaffolding. Located at the end of the breakwater mole on the
east side of the entrance to Chania harbor, near the northwestern corner
of Crete. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS CRE-004; Admiralty N4781; NGA
16012.

Date unknown (station established 1864). Active; focal plane 20 m (66 ft); green flash every 4.8 s. 5 m (17 ft) square pyramidal skeletal tower, painted white and enclosing a small equipment shelter. Oleg Makar has a photo, and Google has a satellite view. Soúda Island is on the north side of Soúda (Suda) Bay, an important NATO naval base. The first lighthouse here had a focal plane of 25 m (82 ft). Located atop a historic fort at the southern tip of the island. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty N4786; NGA
16040.

1948 (station established 1864). Active; focal plane 56 m (184 ft); three
white flashes every 30 s. 7 m (23 ft) octagonal stone tower with lantern
and gallery, attached to a 1-story stone keeper's house. The lighthouse
is white; lantern dome is dark green. Trabas has a fine closeup by Arno Siering (also seen at right),
a 2008 photo and a more distant view are available, and Google has a satellite
view. The original lighthouse was destroyed by German troops during
World War II, but the present lighthouse is a copy. Ákra Drépano is on
the south side of the entrance to Soúda (Suda) Bay.
Savas claims the site takes three hours to reach, but the lighthouse is
only 2.5 km (1.5 mi) northeast of Kokkino and is accessible by a primitive
road. We do not know if the road is open to the public. Site status unknown.
ARLHS CRE-014; Admiralty N4784; NGA 16036.

Note: Réthymno is a ferry port on the west central north coast of Crete. An ancient city with many archeological sites, Réthymno has a population of about 40,000 today.

* Réthymno North Mole

Date unknown. Active; focal plane 10 m (33 ft); green flash every 3 s. 8 m (26 ft) post centered on a hexagonal 1-story equipment shelter. Lighthouse painted white with one green band around the post. Trabas has a photo by Arno Siering, and Google has a satellite view and Marcus Normann's street view. Located at the end of the north mole (the main breakwater) of Réthymno harbor. Accessible by walking the pier. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty N4790; NGA 16064.

1864. Inactive for many years. 16 m (52 ft) stone tower
with lantern and gallery, mounted on a square stone base at the end
of a stone fortification. The lower 2/3 of the tower is octagonal
and the upper 1/3 is round. The lighthouse is unpainted; the lantern
is dark metallic. Alistair Young posted the photo at right and also
a closeup,
a 2010 photo is available, Wikimedia has several photos, and Google has a street view and a satellite
view.
The lighthouse has clearly been abandoned for some time and the gallery
rail is missing. The active lights have been moved to the ends of
outer breakwaters enclosing a harbor much larger than the original.
This lighthouse is second only to Chania as the most
photographed lighthouse on the island. Located
on the north mole of the old inner harbor of Rethymno, now used as
a small boat harbor. Accessible by walking the mole. Site open, tower
closed. ARLHS CRE-009.

* Réthymno South Mole

Date unknown. Active; focal plane 12 m (39 ft); red flash every 4 s. 7 m (23 ft) post centered on a hexagonal 1-story equipment shelter. Lighthouse painted white with one red band around the post. Trabas has a photo by Arno Siering, and Google has a satellite view. Located at the end of the south mole (a broad quay) of Réthymno harbor. Accessible by walking the pier. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty N4791.4; NGA 16068.

Note: Heraklion (also
spelled Iráklion and Herakleion) is the capital and
largest city of Crete, with a population of about 170,000.

* Heraklion (Iráklion,
Candia, Megalo Kastron)

1864. Inactive for many years. This was originally an approximately
12 m (40 ft) octagonal cylindrical stone tower with lantern
and gallery, mounted at the northeast corner of a 16th century Venetian fortress. A photo is at right, a 2009 photo and an excellent August 2006 photo are
available, Huelse has a historic
photo, and Bing has a satellite
view. The lighthouse has been truncated
to a height of about 6 m (20 ft) above the parapet, although
the top of the stump is about 15 m (49 ft) above ground level.
The fortress,
known as Koules or Rocca al Mare, dominates the harbor of the
city, which became the first Venetian outpost in Crete in 1204. Located on the north breakwater mole
of Heraklion. Site and fortress open, tower closed. ARLHS CRE-008.

1864. Inactive. 9 m (30 ft) round stone tower with lantern and gallery, attached to a
ruined 1-story stone keeper's house. The lighthouse is unpainted; the lantern
was formerly painted white with a metallic dome. The active light (focal plane 49 m (161 ft); two white flashes every 12.8
s) is on a post on the slope above the lighthouse. A photo by Tony and Tessa Cross is at right, in a 2008 photo the
lighthouse also appeared to be in very poor condition, Christos Tzortzis has a more distant view, Trabas has a distant view from above the lighthouse, and Google has a satellite
view. Clearly endangered by neglect and vandalism. The lantern dome blew off in a storm in late 2008, leaving the tower open to the elements; the lens and rotating mechanism were stolen shortly thereafter. Ákra Ágios Ioánnis is a prominent cape at
the northern entrance to the Gulf of Mirambéllou in northeastern Crete.
The photo at the bottom of Savas's page is not of this cape. The lighthouse
is at the end of knife-edged ridge and is difficult to access by land. Located
on the point of the cape, about 25 km (15 mi) north of Ágios Nikólaos.
Site open, tower closed. ARLHS CRE-003; Admiralty N4814; NGA 16124.

Date unknown. Active; focal plane 10 m (33 ft); red flash every 2 s. 8 m (26 ft) post centered on a hexagonal 1-story equipment shelter. Lighthouse painted white with one red band around the equipment shelter. Trabas has a photo, and Google has a satellite view and a street view across the harbor entrance. Located at the end of the jetty of Ágios Nikólaos. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty N4818; NGA 16132.

[Ákra Vamvakiá (2?) (Cape Sitia)]

Date unknown (station established 1892). Active; focal plane 24 m (79 ft); three white flashes every 18 s. 5 m (17 ft) skeletal tower. Adjacent to this modern light is a ruined 1-story stone keeper's house. Trabas has a photo, a closeup photo of the keeper's house is available, and Google has a satellite view. Located at the tip of a promontory about 4 km (2.5 mi) northeast of Sitía. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty N4820; NGA 16140.

1948 (station established 1880). Active; focal plane 45 m (148
ft); white flash every 10 s. 15 m (49 ft) round cylindrical concrete
tower with lantern and gallery, attached to a 1-story concrete keeper's
house. The tower is unpainted white concrete; lantern painted white
with a dark green dome. The original lighthouse was destroyed during
World War II. Manolis Hetzakis has a 2011 photo, a distant view is
available, Trabas has a very distant view from the sea, Wolfgang Kistler has a photo of
oil being unloaded at the lighthouse in 1968, and Bing has a satellite
view. Note: there is another
Faros Sídhero on Kérkyra (Corfu) off the west coast of Greece. This
lighthouse marks Ákra Sídhero, the northeastern tip of Crete. The
cape is on an island connected tenuously to a second island, which
in turn is connected tenuously to the mainland. There is a road
snaking out to the lighthouse, and apparently this road is
open to the public. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS CRE-010; Admiralty
N4826; NGA 16160.

* Ierapetra Breakwater

Date unknown. Active; focal plane 9 m (30 ft); red flash every 3 s. 6 m (20 ft) concrete post centered on a hexagonal 1-story concrete equipment shelter. The light is unpainted except for a narrow red band around the top of the post. Trabas has a photo, and Google has a satellite view. Located at the end of the breakwater of the small boat harbor of Ierapetra, a town on the southeastern coast of Crete. Accessible by walking the pier. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty
N4831; NGA 16184.